16th Congressional District Candidates: Military and the Middle East
By: Blake Long
Updated: October 8, 2012
As we count down to Election Day in November, we continue our look at where local candidates stand on the issues. In the race
for the 16th Congressional District seat, Republican Adam Kinzinger is facing
Democrat Wanda Rohl. Our Question: Have we accomplished our mission
of bringing peace to the Middle East?
Wanda Rohl:
"No. Somewhat, but I don't think that we're accomplishing the mission that we set out to. Iraq is still kind of very up in the air, there is some up rise still in Afghanistan and Syria, but I think that we need to change what we're doing there and change the focus."
Adam Kinzinger:
"You know I think we've brought a certain amount of stability that wasn't there, but you're seeing a huge time of change in the Middle East. And I think a lot of it has sparked from the idea of freedom in Iraq. You see the Libyans, I was one of only six republicans to support the president in his action in Libya. You know Libya has turned out in recent elections, they voted over 80% for secular candidates and it seems to be Libya is having a lot of stability. Egypt's a tough issue. Syria is a tough issue, but what you're seeing is in many cases people don't want to live under dictatorships anymore, that want to live under freedom are rising up and saying they want to take control of their own destiny, but it creates a mess in the process."
Wanda Rohl:
"No. Somewhat, but I don't think that we're accomplishing the mission that we set out to. Iraq is still kind of very up in the air, there is some up rise still in Afghanistan and Syria, but I think that we need to change what we're doing there and change the focus."
Adam Kinzinger:
"You know I think we've brought a certain amount of stability that wasn't there, but you're seeing a huge time of change in the Middle East. And I think a lot of it has sparked from the idea of freedom in Iraq. You see the Libyans, I was one of only six republicans to support the president in his action in Libya. You know Libya has turned out in recent elections, they voted over 80% for secular candidates and it seems to be Libya is having a lot of stability. Egypt's a tough issue. Syria is a tough issue, but what you're seeing is in many cases people don't want to live under dictatorships anymore, that want to live under freedom are rising up and saying they want to take control of their own destiny, but it creates a mess in the process."
